Tom Hardy confirms role in Al Capone movie Fonzo

Tom Hardy has confirmed he will be starring as notorious gangster Al Capone in 'Fonzo'.

The 40-year-old British actor was rumored to take on the role of one of the world's biggest mobsters in a new movie, and now Hardy has confirmed the casting and posted an image on his Instagram account.

He captioned the image: "Time for Al Cap (sic)"

Capone gained fame as the leader of the Chicago Outfit who distributed illegal alcohol during America's Prohibition era in the 1920s.

The struggle over the control of organized crime between the Chicago Outfit and the North Side Irish gang resulted in the infamous Saint Valentine's Day massacre, in which seven men from the rival gang were murdered in broad daylight.

Rather than focusing on the gang war itself, 'Fonzo' will center on Capone at the age of 47, following nearly a decade of imprisonment for his crimes, as dementia starts to take over his mind and his violent past comes back to haunt him.

According to reports at the time, Capone's physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist performed examinations and concluded that Capone had the mentality of a 12-year-old child.

The gangster - who inspired the original 'Scarface' movie - was moved to his mansion in Florida where he had a stroke and upon recovery contracted pneumonia. He then suffered from cardiac arrest and died at the age of 48 in 1947.

Josh Trank - who directed 2015's 'Fantastic Four' - has taken up directorial duties for the project, as well as penning the script.

The film will be produced by Russell Ackerman and Josh Schoenfelder for Addictive Pictures, alongside Lawrence Bender.

Hardy - who has starred as notorious British gangsters the Kray twins in 'Legend' - is set to star as Eddie Brock and his alter-ego Venom in the upcoming Sony Pictures movie based on the character from Marvel Comics' Spider-Man franchise.

And the actor recently hinted with photos shared on his Instagram that principle photography on the project has now come to an end.